God has a Name

Chapter 4
God Has a Name
WHAT is often the first thing you ask someone when you first meet him?— Yes, you ask what his name is. We all have names. God gave the first man on earth a name. He named him Adam. Adam’s wife was named Eve.
However, it is not only people who have names. Think about other things that also do. When someone gives you a doll or a pet, you give it a name, don’t you?— Yes, having a name is very important.
Look up at the many, many stars at night. Do you think they have names?— Yes, God gave a name to each star in the sky. The Bible tells us: "He is counting the number of the stars; all of them he calls by their names."—Psalm 147:4.
Who would you say is the most important person in the whole universe?— Yes, it is God. Do you think that he has a name?— Jesus said that He does. Jesus once said in prayer to God: ‘I have made your name known to my followers.’ (John 17:26) Do you know God’s name?— God himself tells us what it is. He says: "I am Jehovah. That is my name." So God’s name is JEHOVAH.—Isaiah 42:8.
How does it make you feel when others remember your name?— You are happy, aren’t you?— Jehovah wants people to know his name too. So we should use the name Jehovah when we talk about God. The Great Teacher used God’s name, Jehovah, when he spoke to people. One time Jesus said: "You must love Jehovah your God with your whole heart."—Mark 12:30.
Jesus knew that "Jehovah" is a very important name. So he taught his followers to use God’s name. He even taught them to speak about God’s name in their prayers. Jesus knew that God wants all people to know His name, Jehovah.
Long ago God showed the importance of his name to the man Moses, who was one of the sons of Israel. The sons of Israel, who were called Israelites, lived in the land called Egypt. The people of that land were known as Egyptians. They made the Israelites slaves and were very mean to them. When Moses grew up, he tried to help one of his people. This made Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, angry. He wanted to kill Moses! So Moses ran away from Egypt.
Moses went to another land. It was the land of Midian. There Moses got married and began to raise a family. He also worked as a shepherd, taking care of sheep. One day Moses was busy caring for his sheep near a mountain when he saw an amazing thing. A thornbush was on fire, but it was not burning up! Moses went closer to get a better look.
Do you know what happened?— Moses heard a voice calling from the middle of that burning thornbush. The voice called out, "Moses! Moses!" Who was saying that?— It was God speaking! God had a lot of work for Moses to do. God said: ‘Come and let me send you to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and you bring my people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.’ God promised to help Moses do this.
But Moses said to God: ‘Suppose I come to the sons of Israel in Egypt and say that God sent me. What if they ask me, "What is his name?" What shall I say?’ God told Moses to tell the sons of Israel: ‘Jehovah has sent me to you. Jehovah is my name forever.’ (Exodus 3:1-15) This shows that God was going to keep the name Jehovah. He would never change it. God wanted to be known by his name, Jehovah, forever.
When Moses went back to Egypt, the Egyptians thought that Jehovah was just a small god of the Israelites. They did not think that he was the God of the whole earth. So Jehovah told the king of Egypt: ‘I am going to make my name known in all the earth.’ (Exodus 9:16) Jehovah did make his name known. Do you know how he did that?—
Well, he had Moses lead the people of Israel out of Egypt. When they came to the Red Sea, Jehovah made a dry path right through it. The Israelites marched safely through on dry land. But after Pharaoh and all his army entered the dry seabed, the waters that had been held back on both sides fell upon the Egyptians, and they all died.
Soon people in all the earth began to hear what Jehovah had done at the Red Sea. How do we know they heard about it?— Well, about 40 years later, the Israelites came to Canaan, which is the land that Jehovah had promised to give to them. There two Israelite men were told by the young woman Rahab: "We have heard how Jehovah dried up the waters of the Red Sea from before you when you came out of Egypt."—Joshua 2:10.
Today many people are just like those Egyptians. They do not believe that Jehovah is the God of the whole earth. So Jehovah wants his own people to tell others about him. This is what Jesus did. Toward the end of his life on earth, he told Jehovah in prayer: "I have made your name known to them."—John 17:26.
Do you want to be like Jesus? Then tell others that God’s name is Jehovah. You may find that many people do not know that. So perhaps you can show them the scripture in the Bible at Psalm 83:18. Let’s get the Bible right now and find that scripture together. It says: "That people may know that you, whose name is Jehovah, you alone are the Most High over all the earth."
What do we learn from reading this?— Yes, we learn that Jehovah is the most important name there is. It is the name of Almighty God, the Father of Jesus and the One who made all things. And remember, Jesus said that we should love Jehovah God with our whole heart. Do you love Jehovah?—
How can we show that we love Jehovah?— One way is by getting to know him as a Friend. Another way is by telling others what his name is. We can show them right from the Bible that his name is Jehovah. We can also tell about the wonderful things Jehovah has made and the good things he has done. This makes Jehovah very happy because he wants people to know about him. We can have a share in doing that, can’t we?—
Not everyone will want to listen when we speak about Jehovah. Many people did not listen even when Jesus, the Great Teacher, talked about Him. But that did not stop Jesus from speaking about Jehovah.
So let’s be like Jesus. Let’s keep talking about Jehovah. If we do, Jehovah God will be pleased with us because we show love for his name.
Now read together from the Bible a few more texts showing the importance of God’s name: Isaiah 12:4, 5; Matthew 6:9; John 17:6; and Romans 10:13.
[Picture on page 27]
Did you know that all the stars have names?
[Picture on page 28]
What important thing did Moses learn at the burning thornbush?
[Picture on page 29]
How did God make his name known at the Red Sea?
[Pictures on page 30]
Jesus made God’s name known. Can you point out God’s name in the Bible?